"I can't thank you enough for coming, Mr. Dark," Brett Maron
was saying, when the door to his office opened and a petite, wispy, but
strikingly beautiful young woman entered. Her deep blue eyes filled with
sorrow and pain.

"Call me Jarod, please." He vacated his chair and offered it
to her, watching a small smile flash, faintly.

"I'm not sure that I want to." She placed her hand in front
of her mouth, but it still didn't stifle the cry.

"Beck, you promised me… this is for him. He was really hyped about
this song. After all, he wrote the lyrics, I just wrote the score."

"After this video is filmed, then I get to take a break and disappear
for a while. I really need some time, Brett. Aurora and me. She needs
her mother, and I need to spend time with my daughter. Just this morning
she said dada…." The young woman got out the chair and walked to
the window, her shoulders rounded as though pushed down by a heavy weight.
"I'm sorry." Beckett turned and looked first at her brother,
then at Jarod, then wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"No need to apologize, Miss Maron. If this isn't a good time, I
certainly understand you not wanting to perform. Losing someone, it hurts."
Jarod locked eyes with her. "But you have your brother and your daughter.
Her name's very unusual, Aurora, for the dawn."

"No, Dante fell in love with the name after I dragged him to see
the ballet Sleeping Beauty. Dante believed that all music was connected,
and needed to be appreciated both separately and together. I'm rambling,
forgive me. Brett, when do we start?"

"Day after tomorrow. I was hoping that you would go over your vision
of this video with Jarod here, so that he knows what we want."

"Sure." The woman gave them both a weak smile, then turned
to Jarod. "Do you have time now?"

"It's your money that's paying for my time, whenever you want."
Jarod returned the smile and rose from his seat.

"Good, then let's get this over with." Beckett headed for the
door. "Brett, tell Peter that after this album is done and the final
video is cut, I'm taking a hiatus."

"What about the negotiations with Spin Disc, Beck? You know that
Dante really wanted this. Anyway, when the press finds out, they'll accuse
you of running away and hiding. And what about the band?"

"The press," she sneered, "are nothing but parasitic vultures.
Hide, how can I? Everywhere I go there are reporters asking about Dante,
and do I believe that he killed himself." She stormed out of the
office, leaving Jarod standing there, stunned.

"Jarod, I'm sorry that you witnessed that, but….." Brett came
from around the desk, running his hands through his hair.

"Don't apologize." Jarod smiled, putting the man at ease, when
the phone on his desk buzzed. Brett walked back and picked up the receiver.
"She's waiting for you in your office," he said as he hung up.

When Jarod walked into the office, he found Beckett staring out the window,
looking at the view. She turned to look at him, a sheepish grin on her
features tinged with sadness.

"Sorry about that, I promised you that we'd talk about music. Got
any favorites?"

"No, a friend of mine introduced me, and please, it's Jarod. You
really don't want to do this video, do you?"

"Not really, but Brett's right, Dante put his heart and soul into
this song. And…."

"What happened, Beckett?"

"I'm not sure myself. Dante had a meeting with Spin Disc, a new
recording label. He called me from the car phone. God, he was so upbeat.
They were offering us the moon. He really wanted to sign, and with our
contract up at Sutton Sound at the end of the year, I was willing to give
Spin Disc a chance. He was coming here to talk to Peter, to tell him that
we weren't going to sign with Sutton again, that this would be their last
album from the group."

"Did he make it to his meeting with Peter?" Jarod inquired.

"Yes, in fact it was during the meeting with Peter that Dante started
to feel ill… he was a diabetic," Beckett explained. "He was
going to meet Aurora and I after the meeting. The sitter was bringing
her to Dante, I had a fitting for my dress." She closed her eyes
tightly, but not before a tear escaped.

"Did he administer his insulin?" Jarod asked, coming to stand
behind the woman.

"Peter said that he gave Dante his shot. Peter said that Dante was
almost unconscious." She sighed deeply, and began to sob.

"How about we both take a break?" Jarod suggested. "I'll
take the notes that you gave me and look them over at my place, and get
back to you later." He escorted Beckett to the elevator, and then
accompanied her to the garage, watching her get into her car. On the way
back, Jarod flashed his ID pass through the infrared scanner.

"You going to be working late, tonight, Mr. Jarod?" the security
guard asked. "Shift changes at five, and I like to alert whomever
is on duty who we have in the building."

"You do that every night?" Jarod asked, a smile on his face.

"Yes sir, everyone needs to use their ID, which is logged into the
computer. I also keep a written record of who comes and goes."

"The night that Dante Canetti died, were you on duty?"

"Yes, I was. I remember that night, because it had started to snow
pretty heavily. In fact, I called Mr. Sutton to tell him that Mr. Canetti
had just called; he was running late because of the weather but said to
wait for him, it was important."

"When Mr. Canetti got here, how did he seem to you?"

"He came in whistling "Baby, It's Cold Outside," and I
joked around with him about how I wanted to spend the winter in California.
He laughed and headed up in the elevator. I rang Mr. Sutton to let him
know that Mr. Canetti was on his way up."

"What happened next?"

"About an hour later, Mr. Sutton called down asking for me to call
for an ambulance, said that Mr. Canetti had taken ill. He also asked me
to get ahold of Beckett, so that she could meet them at the hospital.
I told Mr. Sutton that Miss Lauren and the baby were on the way upstairs."

* * * * * * * * *

Miss Parker found Gabriel was standing in his crib, his eyes glued to
the nursery doors. The nurse sat at her desk, working with a single-station
computer. She stopped typing when Miss Parker entered the room, and looked
up. "His bathtime is at 6:30 sharp, Miss Parker, and bedtime is at
7:30."

Parker picked the little boy up in her arms, delighting in the feel of
his warm hands on her cheeks, his tiny features twisting to mimic the
nurse. Parker had to stifle her laughter by brushing her lips across his
forehead.

"Ready?" she asked, already knowing the answer. Right now she
was going to forget about the files on her desk, and pamper herself with
two of her favorite people, as she and Gabriel headed toward her office.
The sound of The Nutcracker could be faintly heard from behind
the closed doors, and Gabriel started to sway in her arms when he heard
it.

Parker pushed open the door to find Debbie dressed in a pink leotard,
with pale pink tights and ballet slippers that were scuffed and worn.
The music flooded the room from an unseen source. It was haunting, lushly
romantic, quiet at first and then building to a loud crescendo that practically
shook the walls. She waltzed around the room, whirling until her skirt
billowed; from the turns she leapt, conscious of nothing but the music.
Parker watched as Debbie lifted her eyes upward, her face so full love
and dedication, like a beam of light.

The music stopped and Debbie turned to Miss Parker and Gabriel, both
of them smiling.

"Beautiful," Miss Parker said softly. "Absolutely beautiful."

Gabriel clapped his hands in delight, grinning at Debbie. As she curtsied
toward them, Gabriel's movements stopped. Mr. Parker stormed into the
office and glared at his daughter. Her smile immediately faded. The tension
in the room was undeniable. Debbie stared at the wall, taking a step toward
it as if trying to hide, and Gabriel wrapped his small hands around Miss
Parker's shirt sleeve tightly. Mr. Parker's mouth was twisted in anger
as he surveyed the room. "What exactly is going on here?" he
growled at his daughter.

"Do you know what time it is?" her father asked. "Your
brother must be kept on a strict schedule."

"I didn't think one evening would hurt anything."

Swooping down, Mr. Parker pulled Gabriel from his daughters arms. "Obviously,
you didn't think at all. I may have to re-evaluate your time with him."
Striding from the room, he pointedly ignored the crushed look that crept
onto Miss Parker's face, and his son's reaching out for her, whimpering
"Mine" softly.

* * * * * * * * *

It was a cold and miserable night. Inside the office, time moved slowly
as Jarod hacked his way into the computer files of Sutton Sound. He started
with the contract that Charybdis had signed. It was a standard contract,
no hidden clauses. The group would release two albums and once those albums
were completed, the group was no longer under obligation to Sutton. Jarod
continued to search the files, where he discovered the financial records
for the company. The more he continued to dig, the more he learned that
the company was turning a significant profit, most of which came from
Charybdis. He sat back and closed his eyes, his fingers rubbing against
his temples to ease the tension that was building. A knock at the door
prompted him to close the laptop, before he called out to whomever was
out in the hall.

"Jarod, burning the midnight oil are we?" Peter Sutton asked
as he entered, taking a seat in the chair opposite Jarod.

"Yeah. Getting ready to shoot this video. Brett wants to start Sunday,
seems it's the only time one of the sites is available."

"That's wonderful. How is Beckett handling this? I heard that she
was in earlier; since Dante's death, she's been avoiding a lot of people."
Peter looked away briefly, then took a deep breath. His eyes fell on a
small black case that was sitting on Jarod's desk and he reached out to
touch it, then picked it up.

"Isn't this Dante's?" he inquired.

"No, it's mine," Jarod replied as he watch Sutton open the
lid slowly, his eyes widening in shock. "I'm diabetic, why? Was Mr.
Canetti?" Peter dropped the case as though burned.

"Ummm, yeah. I rode to the hospital with him." Jarod noticed
a fine line of perspiration breaking out on Sutton's forehead. "If
you'll excuse me, Jarod, I have a meeting with a new group and their manager."
Sutton rose from the seat and left the office.

Jarod sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. His eyes were gritty,
as if he had gone too long without sleep. He leaned back in his chair.
Patience, he thought. Reaching for the phone, he placed a rather important
call, then left the office.

* * * * * * * * *

As Jarod walked down the corridors of the police station, now and then
a voice barked or a door opened and closed hollowly. The sound of phones
ringing came from everywhere at once, they never seemed to be answered.
Snow drifted down outside the windows to add a touch of gloom. The corridor
smelled strongly of Lysol and damp. It wasn't the first time he'd been
in a police station, and it wouldn't be the last. He made his way to the
door marked Records, which he silently entered. He located the cabinet
that contained the file needed, took it and left, unobserved.

* * * * * * * * *

Jarod sat on the corner of the desk in Brett Maron's desk, toying with
a Lucite paperweight. Brett watched this with interest as Jarod tossed
the paperweight from hand to hand before he set it down.

"So what you're telling me is that Dante came here and met with
Peter." The man shook his head. "And didn't leave this building
alive because Sutton killed him. Jarod, give him an ounce of credit. Peter
tried to help him, by giving him is insulin shot. Hell, he rode in the
ambulance with him. He comforted Beckett until I arrived. I don't understand."

"Brett, I pulled the files. There was no insulin introduced into
his system. His levels were low, and if he'd had a dose of his medication,
he should have responded. And where's his insulin kit? It wasn't found
in the office. Doesn't that strike you as odd? It does me." Jarod
pushed the file in front of him across the desk for Brett to read. "I
did a little digging. I found this in Peter's safe. I had the needle tested.
This isn't insulin, it's a fetanyl analong, otherwise known as 'China
White.'"

"China White?" Brett queried.

"It's a designer drug, Brett. It's lethal, and unless the doctors
in the emergency room know what to test for, the patient is going to die."

"But why Dante? Jarod, I still don't understand, why him?"

"It had to do with the fact that Dante didn't want to stay here.
He discovered that Sutton wasn't giving the band all of the monies it
earned. He was growing rich off of you, but once the band left… In this
business, making it isn't an easy road. A record company doesn't like
to lose their winners, and Sutton was going to lose big time."

"I can't let Peter get away with this. I'm going to call."
Brett leaned forward to pick up his phone, but Jarod reached out and put
a hand on top of his.

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